Dear Friends,

I was recently appointed as a new member of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Advisory Committee as an intersex person. I've been working on our Intersex Task Force since last summer as a community participant. You are invited to participate in a Public Hearing on Intersex Treatment. The hearing has been scheduled by the Human Rights Commissioners for Thursday, May 27, 2004 at 4:30 pm in room 416 of San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. We expect the hearing to last 2-3 hours. It could go longer......

As a Board member of the Intersex Society of North America, I hope you would be willing to speak on behalf of our Patient-Centered model of care as opposed to the current medical practice of concealment-centered care. There are several important issues that need to be addressed so that the Commissioners can hear all sides of this timely topic, (i.e., informed consent, consequences of treatment, mental health needs of the individual and family, outcomes of treatment, body sovereignty, parent's rights, gender identity, and civil rights of the individual to name a few). If you are able to attend and speak at the hearing, please let me know at your earliest convenience and which issues you feel comfortable addressing. Each speaker will have 3 minutes at the podium.

If you are unable to participate in this "historic event," we are accepting written testimony that will be shared at the hearing (3 minute time limit applies here too) and will be used when we write our Guidelines for Recommended Care of Intersex.

http://www.bodieslikeours.org/upcom...omingevents.htm (includes contact information)

Sincerely,

David Iris Cameron (XXY sex chromosomes)

__________________
Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is. --Margaret Mitchell

bump

__________________
Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is. --Margaret Mitchell

Sometimes, amid the controversies that arise on this forum, I like to remind myself that each of us, as intersex people and allies of intersex people, can quietly go about our business of raising public awareness of intersex issues. The SF Human Rights Commission Intersex Task Force meeting of last Wednesday, 4/7/04 made progress in planning the upcoming HRC May 27th Public Hearing on Intersex. The meeting was well attended. The SF HRC is very forward looking and is positioning itself to take historic actions in support of intersex rights in the coming months.

A CALL FOR INTERSEX TESTIMONY:

Intersex testimony is very important to the May 27th Public Hearing. We are getting testimony from around the world. Intersex activists have drawn up an outline of possible intersex topics to be included in public testimony. You can add any intersex topics you want, as the following is only a suggestion. The outline:

Medical

Informed Consent
Patient (centered vs. :)) Concealment Model
Personal Experiences
Treatment Consequences
Resources
Medical Outcome
Mental Health
After care/medical treatment
Lack of information - lost to follow-up

Legal

Informed consent
Gender Identity
Body Sovereignty
Parents' rights
Children's rights
Civil rights

Social

Patient (centered vs. :)) Concealment model
Personal experiences
Treatment consequences
Family dynamics
Resources
Gender Identity
Homophobia
Body sovereignty
Parents' rights
Children's rights
Support networks
Civil rights

As noted in the previous post:

"The hearing has been scheduled by the Human Rights Commissioners for Thursday, May 27, 2004 at 4:30 pm in room 416 of San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. We expect the hearing to last 2-3 hours. It could go longer......"

Public testimony is very important, and we encourage all intersex people and parents of intersex people to come and testify. Each person will have three minutes of public speaking time to address the Commissioners. If you cannot make it in person, you can send a written statement to Marcus de Maria Arana, an HRC Commissioner and Discrimination Investigator who works with the Intersex Task Force. Written statements about intersex issues should be roughly 350 words long maximum, about the equivalent of three minutes of speaking time. I am not sure of the details at this point, but at least some written statements will be publicly read into the record by local intersex activists on behalf of their friends. We have several local intersex people scheduled to speak, and also have several parents of intersex people scheduled to appear in person, or have testimony read on their behalf.

Written statements should be sent to Marcus de Maria Arana by May 10, 2004. Marcus's email address is: Marcus.Arana@SFGOV.ORG

Peter

Peter,

Are they interested in comments from outside of San Francisco or only people in SF?

Betsy

__________________
Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is. --Margaret Mitchell

Comments from outside San Francisco are welcome. For instance, I live outside SF in the East Bay, and I am scheduled to speak. I have heard that a parent of an intersex child, who lives on the east coast and is closely associated with this forum will probably be providing written testimony. Also, I understand that an Australian contingent including a parent and her intersex child are planning to attend the hearing. This is a historic opportunity for the intersex community to provide testimony to the HRC which is closely examining the practice of childhood intersex surgery. The HRC has real municipal powers to guide public policy.

Peter

Here is a new SF Human Rights Commission Press Release Announcing:
the FIRST Public Hearing on Intersex Issues before a Government body in the USA!:

The San Francisco Human Rights Commission is
conducting a Public Hearing to explore human rights
concerns associated with intersex issues. This
groundbreaking event is the first time that a
governmental entity in the USA has addressed intersex
issues. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission is
the City department responsible for enforcing San
Francisco's nondiscrimination laws.

WHEN: On Thursday, May 27, 2004, 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: Rm. 416, City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett
Place, 4th floor, San Francisco.

Call for participation:

The Commission invites people to share their personal
experiences regarding medical, social, and legal
aspects of their experiences, regarding potential
human rights aspects of intersex issues. The Commission
encourages the participation and
attendance of intersex people, parents and family
members of intersex people, and providers. The public is
strongly encouraged to attend!

Written testimony from people who can't make the
hearing, or who may wish to offer an anonymous
contribution are also needed. Please send your
testimonies (preferably by May 17, 2004) to the
address below.

Please distribute this announcement widely through
your public and personal networks.


For more information contact, and to send written
testimonies:

Marcus Arana
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94102-6033
(415) 252-2519
marcus.arana@sfgov.org
uman Rights Commission press release related to the upcoming hearings on intersex:

I would really like to encourage people to share their personal experiences with the SF Human Rights Commission Intersex Hearing scheduled for May 27th. They are particularly interesting in the involuntary assignment of sex either through surgery or hormone treatments. You do not have to sign your name, but Marcus Arana must have it mailed to him by May 17th. I am posting what I plan to say in hopes that you might write your own testimony (it needs to be no more than three minutes in length, or about one page of written testimony):

Peter Trinkl
HRC Intersex Testimony
For May 27, 2004 SF HRC Intersex Hearing (Slightly modified from earlier email version)

"My name is Peter Trinkl and I am an intersex person. When I was growing up, my parents were very secretive about my being intersex. The topic was only mentioned in passing and with great embarrassment. I found out from my mother that I was born with a vaginal opening but lacked internal female organs. I had cosmetic genital surgery because of being intersex.

Once, when I was about six years old, I fell while playing and was knocked unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I found my little brother and his friend had lowered my pants to examine my genital scars. After I scolded my brother, he confessed that my parents had pressured him never to reveal my secret. After word apparently spread through my brother’s friend, I was repeatedly bullied at school, and remember getting my head slammed into a metal gate. I could not complain about the continual bullying because the shame and secrecy with which intersex people are regarded made it impossible to talk to either my parents or school officials about the abuse. I don’t blame my brother for my problems because he was honest about my situation. Once, when I was about eleven years old, another intersex child introduced himself to me, and explained that he was interested in talking about his being intersex because he had found out from my brother that I was intersex.

I do not believe that intersex conditions are birth defects. I wish that no surgery had been done on me. I feel that I have been un-necessarily scared by the medical profession. Without surgery, I would have been an intersex person without scars. With surgery, I was turned into an intersex person with scars. Every person is more than their genitals, and to believe that one can treat intersex people through genital surgery is extremely short-sighted. Recent research indicates that intersex people have intersex brains, which in turn govern a chain of developmental events that may lead to ambiguous genitals. Ambiguous genitals are a late developmental sign of intersex. There are also interesting issues of the bodies sometimes developing differently on their right and left sides. Intersex surgery, even on its own terms of promoting a “hiding” of my being intersex was a failure, and I have had to repeatedly explain my genital scars throughout my life.

Being born intersex is not a medical emergency. While I have met some intersex people, for whom surgery was necessary for urinary problems, they are the exception. Most surgery performed on intersex people is for purposes of sex assignment and the visual “normalization” of the appearance of their genitals. These surgeries rest on a very dubious ethical foundation that not performing them will lead to social problems later in life. I bitterly resent that genital surgery that was done on me. I am opposed to surgery, which is not medically necessary, being performed on intersex people without our informed consent. Thank you."

Peter

Hey Peter!

In one of the posts, it says to have our experiences sent to Marcus by May 10.....another by May 17 . Which is it?... If I send an email before May 17th....would it be acceptable or too late?

Dana

Hi Dana,

You have sharp eyes. Yes, originally the deadline for testimony was May 10th, but it was later changed to May 17th. Any email testimony to Marcus Arana, should be followed up with a hard copy sent to Marcus's address. They will need a hard copy of written testimony submitted to them as well as any email. It would be best if the hard copy shows up at the offices of the SF HRC by May 17th. I just sent my hard copy.

Of course, if you show up at the hearing, you can speak during the public comment portion of the hearing for your three minutes of alotted time without having submitted written testimony before hand. It is a public hearing.

Again, to make this easy for people reading this post, the address of Marcus Arana, Discrimination Investigator with the SF HRC, is:

Marcus Arana
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94102-6033

Other Contact Information:
(415) 252-2519
marcus.arana@sfgov.org

Peace,

Peter